All Creatures Great and Small
by thisiswhyishouldn'twritefanfic
Summary: Pre-fellowship. When Aragorn and an injured Legolas take refuge in a cave, Aragorn makes a vow to protect him from all creatures great and small. Especially the small.


**All Creatures Great and Small****  
Word Count:** 1,149**  
Rating:** K+/PG, though not for the horses, unfortunately**  
Disclaimer:** Normally I'm wittier, but... I got nothing. I own nothing.**  
Summary:** Pre-fellowship. When Aragorn and an injured Legolas take refuge in a cave, Aragorn makes a vow to protect him from all creatures great and small. _Especially_ the small.**  
Author's Note:** So, when I was writing _Storms in Middle Earth, _in chapter six, Legolas mentions an incident that Aragorn would rather forget, and while he wanted to tell the others about it, he decided to wait. I don't know if he will ever tell Firyavaryar or Nostalion, but I decided to write it out anyway.

It's amusing, or at least I think so, and it does stand alone, so I decided to post it.

And, of course, title is not mine, but the James Herriot novel came to mind as I wrote this, so I borrowed it as an acknowledgment of its inspiration.

* * *

**All Creatures Great and Small**

"They cannot be far behind us."

Legolas looked at him, and Aragorn knew that he was too injured to be able to tell how close their pursuers were. They had not wanted to give up on their prize of the elven prince, and Aragorn had not thought they'd be able to put this much distance between them and the orcs, not after their mounts had been slain under them. His friend would grieve when he knew his steed's fate, but the concussion he'd received when the horse threw him had bared that knowledge from him. He did not seem to know where he was most of the time.

That was better than Aragorn had thought it would be, though, when he'd reached the elf and seen the blood all over the side of his head.

"There. Shelter," Legolas said, weak but still pointing to what might just be their salvation.

"You're willing to go into a cave?"

"Concussion."

Aragorn could accept that, though having Legoas admit to the injury was something in of itself. He helped his friend inside, leading him to the back of the small cave. He leaned him against the wall, glancing back toward the opening. Soon it would be too dark to see anything at all. He wished they had more room, but this would do for now, until Legolas' head was better, and they could start for home again. This should not have happened, even if he refused to accept his father's insistence that all he and Legolas did when they went out together was find trouble. It was an unfair statement.

"I did not have time to grab my herbs from my saddle bag," Aragorn said, almost cursing at the realization. "I can't do anything for the pain or the nausea—"

"I will be fine. Do not fret. And do not go out after the herbs."

"Legolas—"

"It hurts, but I have had others. I will survive."

Aragorn grunted. He knew that the elf's natural healing could care for him, and he would recover faster than a man from a concussion, even a grave one, but he did not like knowing that his friend was in pain, and he could do nothing to help.

Silence settled over them, Aragorn going over in his thoughts how they had come to find themselves in this place, again, injured and hiding—though his injuries were only minor, mostly bumps and bruises from when his own horse had stumbled, and they had somehow managed to run from the orcs without incident, though Legolas was still pale from the exertion, still weak.

This was a minor incident, though, other than the lost horses. He did grieve, too, for his companion, though he knew it would be more difficult for Legolas than for him. What bothered Aragorn more was thinking that he should have been able to see this ambush and prevent it. He did not know how they had gone so easily into the trap.

"Something comes."

Aragorn's head jerked up, and he looked over at the elf, knowing that he would not be able to fight in his condition. He almost couldn't see his friend in the darkness that had settled over them, but he knew that Legolas had not recovered from the concussion that quickly. "Fear not, _mellon-nín. _Whatever comes for us will not find us easy prey. I will not let them take you. Ordinarily, I know, you would not need my help, but I swear to you, no matter what the threat is that comes to us, I will fight to my last. I will defend you."

"Estel—"

"Do not argue with me. I know you cannot fight, and I know that there were many orcs, but even if we die here and now, I will stand to the last with you. I swear it. I will never stop protecting you."

The elf sighed, and Aragorn touched his shoulder before drawing his blade, readying it to face the foe that he could now hear, if the scuffling was right. He did not think it an orc, though. Too quiet for an orc.

He saw the being come into range, and he could only stare.

Legolas, on the other hand, could only laugh. Aragorn would have blamed the concussion if he could have, but he could not. The keen elf ears might have known before the human eyes, but that did not make this any easier to accept.

"It's a squirrel."

"Yes, it is, _mellon-nín, _and I think it is quite impressed by your valor."

Aragorn groaned, sheathing his sword and swatting the squirrel away before he sat down on the other side of the cave. He could only hope that Legolas' concussion was so bad that he would not remember this in the morning.

* * *

"Estel."

He opened his eyes to see Legolas leaning over him, and he cursed himself for his lack of vigilance. He should have been checking to make sure that his friend recovered from the concussion, not sleeping away the whole night. He could see the daylight coming in from the opening of the cave, and he knew that it was late in the morning already.

"There you are. I was beginning to think you would never wake."

"I should be saying that about you," Aragorn told him, shaking his head. "You took quite a hit when your horse threw you yesterday."

"I know," Legolas said, a pained expression passing his face at the mention of his fallen friend. "I have, however, done a great deal of healing in the night, and I feel we should not linger here. There may be strange and unnatural creatures about."

"Or the orcs may come back."

"I am more concerned with the kind of creature that terrifies even the most hardy of ranger."

Aragorn frowned, knowing that his friend must be teasing him—or he was still concussed. "I think you are confused, Legolas. There is no such creature around. The orcs do not frighten me. They are a nuisance, nothing more, as you have said several times when we discuss the borders of Mirkwood."

Legolas nodded. "Yes, they are a nuisance. One that I hate more with each growing day. However, I had a different foe in mind. One of a smaller size. About this big, perhaps?"

The elf held up his hands to mimic the size of the animal he was describing. Aragorn cursed. "So... you remember all of that, then? The orcs and the cave?"

"We are still in the cave. The orcs may yet be out there, but that is not what distresses you, is it, _mellon-nín?"_

No, it wasn't. "You remember the vow, don't you?"

"Indeed," the elf said, a smile on his face. "How could I forget my most valiant protector, the one who will save me from all creatures great and small?"

Aragorn groaned.


End file.
